Why We’ve Added Captions to Our Program Videos

Our main driving force at GMB is helping people build physical autonomy–the ability to move freely in whatever activities matter most to them.

Physical autonomy shouldn’t be seen as only relegated to certain groups of people; it is accessible to anyone of any age, gender, or background, because we can all improve ourselves with training.

And that’s why we wanted to make sure our programs are accessible to as many people as possible, including those who are hearing impaired, non-native English speakers, or anyone else who can benefit from having captions on our videos.

How Captions Enhance Our Programs

In fitness media, there are generally two styles of training program video that people are familiar with:

The follow-along, in which a trainer leads a class and doesn’t say anything more substantive than things like “feel the burn.” In this case, what’s being said can be more annoying than useful!

The technical demonstration, where a model shows proper form once or twice.

For either of these formats, honestly, captions don’t add much to the experience.

But in our case, GMB programs feature detailed tutorials of each movement, along with multiple angles, explanations of technical details that promote safety and quality progress, demonstrations of common mistakes to avoid, and examples of variations and alterations that can help adjust the exercise to be more appropriate for the individual.

In other words, until now, if you couldn’t hear or understand what was said on the video with GMB, you really weren’t getting 100% of the information.

So captions are a big improvement in usability and quality for our clients.

Our other apparatus specialization programs (Rings, Parallettes, and Floor series) have always had embedded written cues in the video tutorials, and because of the particular nature of the program exercises, they don’t require the voiceovers or lectures that are in our PAC programs. This, along with the detailed written descriptions, have helped many to progress through them well.

And now, we are excited to provide the benefits of captions to the instruction in Elements, Integral Strength, Vitamin, and Focused Flexibility.

Why This Matters to Us: Jarlo’s Story

Jarlo Ilano, MPT, OCS, is one of our founders, and his hearing impairment is a big part of why captions are important to us.

We’ve had many clients over the years request captions on videos, but we had a hard time finding the right service to handle nearly 20 hours of video footage, until now. But even before clients started asking for captioning, it was something we wanted to include in our programs.

Why? Because it’s personal.

When Jarlo started school as a kid, it became clear he had a hearing impairment. He had trouble hearing his teachers, and he says, “I didn’t like asking teachers to repeat themselves” not because he had fewer questions, but because he didn’t want to be a bother.

A hearing test confirmed that he had a definite hearing impairment, which progressively worsened as he got older. The last hearing test Jarlo had a few years ago said he had “severe” loss in both ears, with more deficit on the right. And the audiologist said it would only get worse.

Throughout school and into college, Jarlo made sure to sit close to the lectern, and he “always preferred reading to learn because of the energy it took to strain to listen.”

Jarlo always turns captions on for watching TV and movies, and he says, “if they aren’t on, it truly lessens the experience for me, both in terms of entertainment and education.” While he is not fully hearing impaired, Jarlo’s hearing deficits definitely impact his life.

Captioning means a lot to Jarlo, and by extension, to us as his GMB family.

How to Enable Captions on Your Program Videos

Now that captions have been rolled out on these program videos, how do you enable them? It’s easy!

For all of our Physical Autonomy Curriculum programs (Elements, Focused Flexibility, Vitamin, or Integral Strength), you’ll just click the “CC” button on the bottom right of your program videos. That will automatically enable the captions on that video.

If you’ve been thinking about starting our programs, but haven’t been able to due to hearing impairment or language barriers, we hope this new feature will help you start your journey toward physical autonomy.

Build Full Physical Autonomy

Check out the Physical Autonomy Curriculum (PAC) to learn more about the programs featured in this update. You’ll build the attributes you need for whatever activities you love.